Activity Engagement as Escape from Self: The Role of Self-Suppression and Self-Expansion

2012/01/01 by Frode Stenseng, Jostein Rise, Pål Kraft · 1 citation
Neuroscience · Psychology · Social Sciences · #Affect (linguistics) #Developmental psychology #Escapism #Impact of Technology on Adolescents #Mind wandering and attention #Psychological and Temporal Perspectives Research #Psychology #Scale (ratio) #Social psychology

paper · doi:10.1080/01490400.2012.633849

crossref issued 2012/01/01 · crossref published 2012/01/01 · crossref published-print 2012/01/01 · openalex publication_date 2012/01/01 · crossref created 2012/01/10 · crossref deposited 2023/06/13 · openalex created_date 2025/10/10 · crossref indexed 2026/08/04 · openalex updated_date 2026/08/05

Abstract

A two-dimensional model on escape motives in activity engagement was developed in three studies. We suggested that motivation to escape the self through engagement in an activity partly derives from intentions to either prevent negative affect or to promote positive affect. A scale for measuring these intentional mindsets was developed consisting of the subcategories self-suppression and self-expansion. Results showed that the dimensions were differently related to psychological predictors, outcomes, and experiences in the activity engagement. We argue that the present research introduces escapism as a relevant theoretical and empirical concept applicable to several types of activity engagements.

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